Separation of Powers and the Worboys case

There are concerns that the separation of powers – where there is separation between the government, parliament, and the legal system as a safeguard to democracy – is being protected given the Worboy’s case.

Earlier in 2018, the Parole Board’s decision to release serial rapist John Worboys was challenged by the High Court. Subsequently, the Chair of the Parole Board was asked to resign.

A judicial review was then requested by a prisoner Paul Wakenshaw, to look at the lawfulness of that decision and whether it violated the separation of powers, as the Parole Board should be independent. That review started in August 2018.

The review has found that the action of the Justice Minister David Gauke to ask the Chair to resign breached the principle of judicial independence, and also criticised the Parole Board for not taking action on the findings of a previous case where the test for independence was not met.

Minister David Gauke has three months to to act before the judicial review continues.

Prison improvement and inspections

The Ministry of Justice have made a multitude of announcements over the summer recess, summarised below.

20^th August: HMP Birmingham urgent notification

HM Chief Inspector of prisons invokes urgent notification of HM Prison Birmingham following an unannounced inspection, raising significant concerns to the MoJ.

• Rated poor for all four “healthy prison tests”
• Only 14/70 recommendations had been achieved in the 18 months since the last inspection.
• Violence was higher than any other prison, and the response was inadequate – most incidents were not investigated, and there was inadequate analysis of the violence (e.g. did not address impact of drugs), and the number of adjudications were lower than similar prisons. Police referrals were delayed too long to be effective or have any impact.
• Significant drugs problem
• Issues with living conditions and hygiene standards.
• Significant concerns for offender management and release planning. Number of sex offenders doubled since last inspection but risks not addressed.

Urgent notification has been used before for HMP Exeter on 30 May 2018 due to safety issues of violence and self-harm (local improvements being made before another inspection), and HMP Nottingham on 17 January 2018 after being in Special Measures for some time for concerns over safety, leadership, and inexperienced staff. Both of those prisons are state-run.

20^th August: MoJ announced the running of HMP Birmingham will be taken over by HMPPS from G4S for an initial six month period.

17^th August: 10 Prisons Project announced

Prisons Minister announced a project to target violent behaviour, drugs, security, and leadership in 10 prisons, with £10 million funding (above the £30 million announced by Justice Secretary in July). 10 prisons are geographically grouped, in London and the North.

• New scanners for identifying packages within bodies
• Sniffer dogs for psychoactive substances
• Repairing infrastructure i.e. windows
• Of the £10m:
  • £6m for tackling drug and phone supply with scanners, dogs, and physical security
  • £3m for improving safety and living conditions
  • £1m for training programmes for governors to improve leadership and share best practice

Prisons Minister Rory Stewart said with the announcement that he will resign if he doesn’t succeed in a substantial reduction in the number of assaults on officers.

13^th August: Rough sleeping strategy

£3m over 2 years for a pilot scheme for rough sleepers. Focussing on those with short sentences whilst they are still in prison, and female offenders by developing a pilot residential women’s centre in 5 sites.

11^th August: Independent review of sport and physical education in youth justice

Review highlights best practice for the role of sport in rehabilitation and reducing reoffending.

42% of children under the age of 18 reoffend within one year from release from prison, rising to 77% for those who have 11 or more previous offences.

Approximately 75% children in custody are impacted by their inclusion on a keep apart list, which limits their educational and recreational activities and results in their movement being restricted/

Recommendations:

• Implement physical activity and wellbeing strategies, and offer nutritional advice in prisons, YOIs, and secure children’s homes
• Revise the keep apart list policies
• Reconsider martial arts and boxing policy, and pilot introduction of targeted programmes [Gov response says no]
• Senior managers to encourage partnerships between prisons, communities, and sport groups
• Review Release on Temporary Licence, Mobility and related policies to facilitate meaningful sports-based learning, team-building activities, placements and training

10^th August: Pilot scheme for community treatment/health services for mental health and alcohol/drug issues

New protocol in five areas to divert offenders from short0term sentences to treatment with a Community Order. ‘Community Sentence Treatment Requirements’ (CTSRs) as part of sentencing.

A 2017 joint report by MoJ and Public Health England looked at the association between community-based drug and alcohol treatments and reoffending behaviour. The report showed that among those that committed an offence in the two years before undergoing drug or alcohol treatment, there was a 33% reduction in the number of offences they committed in the subsequent 2 years. The reduction for those engaging in alcohol treatment was 59%.

Since the pilot sites went live in 2017/18 – in Birmingham, Plymouth, Sefton, Milton Keynes and Northampton – initial figures suggest that over 400 CSTRs have been given. Once the results of the trial sites have been assessed, it is intended that the scheme will be rolled out more widely.

27^th July: Probation services changes to current system and £22m investment in offenders leaving prison.

Builds on female offender strategy and employment and education strategy to tackle reoffending.

• Align NPS and CRC for joint working and working with key partners. 10 new probation regions
• CRC contracts to end two years early (2020), new and improved contracts after
• £22m /year for offenders leaving prison, with the stabilised CRC delivery

26^th July: £9m pilot at HMP Holme House (County Durham) to tackle drugs

Jointly funded pilot from MoJ and NHS to tighten security to stop drugs entering, and helping substance abuse of offenders.

• New drug detection equipment
• Specialist healthcare teams, including a specialist psychologist
• ‘Connecting Communities’ team to help prisoners transition from custody to community, with drug and alcohol treatment, financial advice, and family engagement.

The pilot began in April 2017, and since then there has been an increase in drugs seizures and more offenders in education or work. Pilot running until 2020.

10^th July: £30m prisons improvement package

• £16m to improve conditions and maintenance
• £7m on in-cell telephones for more prisons to reduce violence and improve rehabilitation.

After a successful trial a tool for an improved risk rating for prisoners will be rolled out nationally over 2019 to help staff assess risks, and prevent and disrupt criminal networks.

Surrey and Sussex Police procuring electric cars

Surrey and Sussex have announced they are procuring 60 electric cars for their non-response vehicles. It is expected that the reduction in fuel and maintenance will save them £120,000 over five years.

The new vehicles are replacing fuel vehicles which were due for replacement in 2018/19.

This follows the Met who intend to have 300 electric vehicles by the end of 2018, and Hampshire who have introduced 40 electric vehicles.

Disclosure in care proceedings

In the case Lancashire County Council v A, B, and Z [2018] EWHC 1819 within the family court, an eight week old baby died in suspicious circumstances and both parents were under a criminal investigation. It became apparent that Lancashire police had not disclosed relevant material, which delayed the hearing and had the potential to compromise the case.

Since the introduction of the national protocol for disclosure (the 2013 Protocol and Good Practice Model: Disclosure of Information in cases of alleged child abuse and linked criminal and care directions proceedings), Lancashire Constabulary had developed a local protocol with partner agencies and increased resources within their disclosure team. Despite following good practice, this case highlighted a serious issue which is believed may be found in other police forces.

The problem related to the fact the disclosure team did not have access to HOLMES2 and therefore could not see all relevant material. This issue was the reason for inadequate disclosure to the family court.

The judge recommended:

• Local authority lawyers should check which data management system is being used to collate information and that the disclosure team has access to the relevant system.
• Police forces should:
  • Provide training to officers to clear confusion as to what information is relevant and the difference between national and local Protocols and compliance with a court order.
  • Check data management systems immediately.

From the Francis J case in London Borough of Southwark v US and others [2017] EWHC 3707, it was recommended that:

• The local authority should make a protocol request to the police 14 days prior to proceedings of S.31 of the Children Act 1989.
• The local authority should issue an application for disclosure seven days prior to the case management hearing. The SIO should attend the hearing and be legally represented.
• If the police wish to withhold disclosure, an application should be made no less than two days before the case management hearing.
• After receiving an application for disclosure, the police should provide a schedule of all material within their possession that is relevant. The judge in this case also suggests that a copy of each adult’s criminal record is also provided.
• The need for ongoing liaison between the local authority and the police was stressed in both cases. An additional step to producing an updated schedule should be to have a meeting between the local authority solicitor and the disclosure team five days prior to the IRH or any fact-finding hearing.
• At the case management hearing, the police should provide the court with:
  • details of any offences;
  • whether any suspect(s) have been charged or not;
  • custody status of any defendants;
  • what bail conditions are applicable;
  • any criminal court timescales.

This case adds to the last point in that the police should provide all material in their possession, and should not be produced for inspection until an agreement has been reached with the parties and the police as to what is relevant.

A summary of the case can be seen here.

 

Ministry of Justice press release: vulnerable offenders diverted to health services to deal with underlying issues

A scheme aimed to address offending behaviour with treatment and rehabilitation for underlying mental health, alcohol or drug issues is being piloted in Birmingham, Plymouth, Sefton, Milton Keynes and Northampton.

The scheme places psychologists and local panels comprising justice and health officials in court to assist Judges and Magistrates in the assessment of offender suitability for participation which, if deemed eligible, results in the issuing of Community Sentence Treatment Requirements (CTSRs) rather than relatively ineffective custodial sentences.  CTSRs involve an engagement with local health services with failures to attend representing a potential breach of the sentence.

The implementation of the scheme dictates a new minimum standard of service and additional training was required for staff in order to improve collaboration between the agencies involved.

Implementation of pilots followed research that:

• Identifies that 29% of offenders who start Community Orders self-report having mental health problems and of those who are formally assessed, 32% were identified as having a drug misuse need and 38% an alcohol misuse problem
• Short-term custodial sentences, which would be the usual route for the offenders affected by the scheme, are particularly ineffective with a proven reoffending rate of 64.9%.

In comparison, a 2017 joint report by Ministry of Justice and Public Health England showed that there was a 33% reduction in the amount of re-offending the two years following drug or alcohol treatment for individuals.  The reduction for those engaging in alcohol treatment was especially striking, at 59%.

By evaluating the sites, the government will be able to understand the effectiveness of the programme along with the clinical services required to increase the use of treatment.  In turn, this will help to improve commissioning of future services by highlighting positive outcomes.

Source: gov.uk

 

Civil Society Strategy: Building a Future that Works for Everyone

The Government has published its Civil Society Strategy which aims to place communities at the centre of decision making by focusing on 5 elements of social value: people, places and the public, private and social sectors.

Highlights include:

• Unlocking £20 million from inactive charitable trusts to support community organisations over the next two years.
• Launching an ‘Innovation in Democracy’ pilot scheme in six regions across the country. This will trial creative ways for people to take a more direct role in decisions that affect their local area. This could include Citizens’ Juries or mass participation in decision-making on community issues via an online poll or app.
• Establishing an independent organisation that will distribute £90 million from dormant bank accounts to get disadvantaged young people into employment. This new organisation will harness the experience of grassroots youth workers, businesses, and other local services, to help young people achieve their full potential.
• Supporting charities to make their voices heard on issues that matter to them and ensuring that charitable trustees reflect the diversity of the society they serve.
• Strengthening Britain’s values of corporate responsibility, through the launch of a major new Leadership Group, formed of senior figures from the business, investment and social sectors, to put social and environmental responsibility at the heart of company decisions.
• Using digital technology for good to improve the work charities can provide to support healthy ageing, bolster online safety and better connect people in an effort to tackle loneliness.
• Improving the use of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 to ensure that organisations can generate more social value for communities when spending public money on government contracts.

Source: HM Government

Police Federation Pay and Morale Survey 2018 – Thames Valley Police

• 1475 responses were received from Thames Valley Police, representing a response
  rate of around 36% (based on July 2017 Home Office figures of officer headcount).
• 78.5% of respondents from Thames Valley Police said that they are dissatisfied with
  their overall remuneration (including basic pay and allowances).
• 48.3% of respondents from Thames Valley Police reported worrying about the state of their personal finances every day or almost every day.
• 73.2% of respondents from Thames Valley Police felt that they were worse off
  financially than they were five years ago.
• 13.0% of respondents from Thames Valley Police reported never or almost never
  having enough money to cover all their essentials.
• 59.4% of respondents from Thames Valley Police told us that their morale is currently low.
• 92.2% of respondents from Thames Valley Police felt that morale within the force is currently low.
• 71.1% of respondents from Thames Valley Police said that they would not recommend joining the police to others.
• 14.6% of respondents from Thames Valley Police told us that they had an intention to leave the police service either within the next 2 years or as soon as possible.

 

Source: Police Federation

New Research into eyewitness memory could increase accuracy of suspect identification

An Economic and Social Research Council-funded project at Royal Holloway, University of London, has found that the accuracy and reliability with which suspects are identified can be significantly improved in the UK.

Misidentification has played a role in more than 70% of cases in the US where a suspect was subsequently exonerated on the basis of DNA evidence.

The research found that collecting eyewitness confidence in their identification straight after the line-up is a key indicator on identification or misidentification. Those who are confident in their identification at this point are more likely to be accurate, whereas those who are less confident initially, but become more confident by the time they get to court are less likely to have identified the offender.

The research also shows that the US-style simultaneous line up was more effective than the UK sequential style.

 

Source: Economic and Social Research Council

Farmers resorting to “medieval” defences to prevent thefts

Farmers are resorting to “medieval” fortifications, such as earth banks and trenches, alongside CCTV, floodlighting and motion sensors to protect their property from theft.

Thefts of quad bikes, agricultural vehicles and 4x4s has increased by 13.4% in the last year, and the total cost of rural crime is £44.5m.

NPCC rural affairs lead DCC Craig Naylor has created the first UK-wide strategy to tackle rising rural crime, with a focus on organised gangs.

Source: BBC

Government commissions independent review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015

The economic and social costs of modern slavery report estimates that it costs the UK up to £4.3 billion a year. Each instance of the crime is estimated to cost around £330,000. Modern slavery is second only to homicide in terms of harm to its victims and society.

The criminal networks that recruit and control victims are constantly adapting and finding new ways to exploit victims. The commissioning of this independent review is an opportunity to enhance the UK’s legislation to effectively tackle this issue.

Source: Gov.uk